Activists in New York are pressing
ahead with plans to push for the legalization of gay marriage,
despite a November 2 GOP takeover of the state Senate.
“It's becoming clear that there is
going to be a change in leadership in the New York State Senate to
the Republican Party,” Ross D. Levi, executive director of the gay
rights group Empire State Pride Agenda, said in a statement on
Thursday. “Some have speculated that this means an end to progress
we will be able to make on LGBT issues here in New York, but I
couldn't disagree more.”
Levi suggested that a successful
campaign to unseat two incumbent anti-gay marriage senators should
serve as warning for lawmakers.
“Senators new and old will now be
asking themselves whether they want the strength of our community
used against them in the same way two short years from now if they
vote against equality for their LGBT constituents,” he wrote.
Last year, a bill that would have
legalized gay marriage had the backing of Governor David Paterson and
it easily passed in the Assembly, but failed in the Senate by eight
votes.
During the campaign, Governor-elect
Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said
he wanted to be the governor that signs the legislation into law.
Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, on the other hand, was
severely criticized for his objections to the institution.